Wednesday night saw Roma face Feyenoord in the inaugural UEFA Europa Conference League Final at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania. The Giallorossi were seeking to win their first trophy in 14 years, since the 2007/08 Coppa Italia, and a first European trophy since lifting the Fairs Cup in the early 60s. Feyenoord are the last Dutch team to have lifted a European title, winning the UEFA Cup in 2002. Arne Slot aimed to overcome a resilient Roma side to deliver silverware in his first season at the club.
The winners of this tournament would secure a place in next season’s Europa League, a competition both teams had already qualified for by way of their domestic finishes. Roma defender Gianluca Mancini admitted his side were labelling it the “cup of jokes” at the start of the campaign, but after playing 14 games to get there he was calling the final the most important game of his career. Jose Mourinho’s reaction at the final whistle against Leicester City, bursting into tears, demonstrates how much was riding on this game.
The match was cagey during the first 15-20 minutes, as finals tend to be, with both teams unable to generate any sort of rhythm and chances few and far between. Mourinho lost Henrikh Mkhitaryan after a quarter of an hour when the muscle tear he’d spent the last month rehabbing opened up again. Nicolò Zaniolo broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute after a cleverly lofted finish. Despite intense second-half pressure from their opponents Gernot Trauner hit the post at the beginning of the half and Rui Patricio pushed a stinging shot from Tyrell Malacia onto the bar Roma dug deep and managed to hold on to their narrow lead.
This gifted the club its first European honour since Giacomo Losi held aloft the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1961 after defeating Birmingham City. It has ended the wait for silverware, not just for Roma but for Italy, who last celebrated a European trophy when Mourinho won the Champions League with Inter Milan 12 years ago.
“The special one” became the first manager to win a European trophy with four different clubs and took his overall tally to five major European titles.
This tactical analysis will break down some of the key tactics we saw in Wednesday’s final.
Lineups
Roma lined up in their customary 3-4-2-1 formation that Mourinho has deployed during the second half of the season. During the course of the match, the system shifted to a 3-4-1-2 with Zaniolo joining Abraham up front and Pellegrini dropping into midfield. Smalling played in the centre of a back three while Karsdorp and Zalewski occupied the wing-back slots. Leonardo Spinazzola started on the bench.
Feyenoord have been extremely consistent with their 4-2-3-1, using it 84% of the time in 2021/22. They boast the best attacking record in the Conference League, led by striker Cyriel Dessers with 10 goals. Tammy Abraham is second on the list with nine.
The formations for this analysis are viewed clearly below. Pellegrini had license to go past the front two but also supported Cristante and Mkhitaryan (and later Sergio) in midfield. Geertruida drifted inside to act as an inverted right-back.
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